'Miracle' Train Accident Recovery Inspires Others

It's not easy to hold the attention of a room full of eighth-graders, especially if you are trying to give them an important lesson about making good choices in life. If they are not fiddling with their phones, many of the teenagers are barely listening, just waiting for the talk to end.

The moment Cameron Clapp danced across the stage at Lenape Middle School Thursday morning, it was easy to see the eighth-graders were hanging on his every word. The message of taking responsibility for their choices and overcoming tough obstacles sinks a lot deeper when they come from a man who admits that his own self-destructive behavior caused the loss of both his legs and his right arm.

"This was a negative consequence of my own actions," Clapp told the audience. "I identified the challenges and took responsibility for my own choices. I did not want to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life."

When Clapp was 15 years old, he had gone out drinking four days after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and passed out on top of railroad track near his home in Arroyo Grande, Calif. He survived getting hit by a freight train, but lost both legs above his knees and his right arm below the shoulder.

"It's a miracle that I survived," Clapp said. "But I was devestated that I wouldn't be able to do the things I loved anymore."

With the help of physical and occupational therapists and prosthetic specialists, Clapp trained and strengthened his body to move the right way. It did not take long for Clapp to return to surfing, bodyboarding, cliff-jumping and snowboarding.

"It's not what happens to you in your life," Clapp said to the students, "it's what you do about it."

He credited his doctors for helping him get out of his wheelchair in five months, including the orthopaedic specialists at Hanger Clinic. It was at Hanger Clinic's Camp No Limits that he met second-grader Colin McCann, whose father is a regional vice president of sales for Hanger. The two remained friends over the years, and it was as Colin's guest that Clapp addressed his classmates.

With separate limbs for running, walking and swimming, Clapp also began competing in amputee competitions like the Endeavor Games and participating in triathlons. When he's not chasing another gold medal, Clapp gives motivational speeches to students and counsels new amputees.

"The adversity in my life has made me a stronger person," Clapp said after his presentation. "I like to give my testimony because I think it resonates with everybody."

One of his first speeches, given in 2004, was before an audience of students at an inner city high school in Minneapolis, Minn., on Valentine's Day. Clapp had no idea if he made any connection until a few days later, when he received an email.

"One of the girls had grown up with a lot of abuse in her home," Clapp said. "When she got home after hearing me speak, she flushed her pills down the toilet and decided she was going to stand up and be strong. It's important to me if I can help just one person."